Hand-held electric beater-mixer

ABSTRACT

A hand-held electric beater-mixer comprises a drive motor (7), two coupling devices (20, 28) linked to the motor and engageable by a whisk and a mixing accessory (38) respectively, an electrical switch (71) operated by a button (67) having an &#34;off&#34; position, a number of &#34;continuous on&#34; positions and a &#34;selective on&#34; position, a vertical movable ejector (51), and a mechanical assembly (72) for preventing continuous operation when the mixing accessory is in place. The mechanical assembly comprises a movable member (74) which releases the ejector when the whisk is in place. The ejector has an engagement tab (53) enabling operation of the button when the ejector is in the raised position, and locks the ejector (51) in the lowered position when the mixing accessory is in place. The engagement tab (53) of the ejector locked in the lowered position locks the button (67) on the side corresponding to its &#34;continuous on&#34; positions.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a hand-held electric beater-mixer,particularly a kitchen beater-mixer, adapted to drive selectively atleast one beating accessory such as for example a whisk, or a mixingaccessory such as for example a mixing foot, comprising a housing ofgenerally prismatic shape enclosing an electric drive motor, tworotatable coupling devices which are associated with the shaft of themotor, of which one opens into the base of the housing through anopening through which the beating mixer can be secured, and of which theother communicates with the exterior of the housing through a couplingopening through which the mixing accessory can be fixed, a controlswitch for the electric motor which is actuated by a manual operatingbutton having a body mounted in the upper portion of the housing, in thefront of the latter in the region overhanging the beating accessory, andwhich is adapted to occupy a "stop" position, one or several "continuousoperation" positions, and an "instantaneous operation" position, anejection member associated with the coupling device of the beatingaccessory and displaceable in height from a low position in the absenceof the beating accessory to a high position under the action of saidbeating accessory upon its engagement in the corresponding couplingdevice, as well as mechanical means preventing bringing the switch into"continuous operation" position when the mixing accessory is inserted inits coupling device and permitting bringing the switch into the"continuous operation" position or into "instantaneous operation"position when the beating accessory is inserted into its couplingdevice.

There is meant by beating accessory a working tool of the whisk or mixertype, and by mixing accessory an accessory with a working tool turningat high speed of the mixer foot type with rotating helix, or again ofthe mixing bowl type with rotating knife.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There is known an apparatus of this type which responds well to thesafety requirements for use consisting in preventing only continuousoperation of the motor in the presence of the mixing accessory, for thepurpose of preventing operation of the apparatus with its switch blockedinto the "continuous operation" position during critical situations suchas for example that in which the apparatus in service slips from thehand of the user. In this apparatus, the coupling opening of the mixingaccessory is located in the front of the apparatus, on the same side asthe rotatable actuating button of the control switch of the electricmotor, and the mechanical safety means preventing bringing the switchinto the "continuous operation" position in the presence of the mixingaccessory, are constituted by a vertical finger which is mounted on asliding closure associated with the coupling opening of the mixingaccessory and which, after opening the closure by sliding in thevertical direction, blocks the rotatable axle of the button from theside of its "continuous operation" positions.

However, there exist at present numerous hand-held electricbeater-mixers which themselves comprise a coupling opening for themixing member which is located, not in the front of the apparatus, butin the rear of the latter, opposite the actuating button for the switch,such that the mechanical safety means of the prior art, described above,are evidently useless for these beater-mixers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention has for its object to overcome this drawback and toprovide a hand-held electric beater-mixer of the type with a couplingopening for the mixing accessory located in the rear of the apparatus,opposite the actuating button of the switch, in which the prevention ofbringing the switch into the "continuous operation" position in thepresence of the mixing accessory and the permission to bring said switchinto "continuous operation" position or into "instantaneous operation"position in the presence of the beating accessory, are obtained bysimple and reliable mechanical means, ensuring absolute safety ofoperation of the apparatus.

According to the invention, a beater-mixer of the type described above,is more particularly characterized in that the coupling opening for themixing accessory being provided in the rear wall of the housing, theejection member comprises in its upper portion a drive finger and themechanical means comprise a movable member which is interposed betweenthe ejection member and the coupling device of the mixing accessory,whose displacement is subordinated to the emplacement of the mixingaccessory in its coupling device, against resilient return means, andwhich is adapted, on the one hand, to free the displacement of theejection member which passes from its lower position to its upperposition when the beating accessory is inserted in its coupling device,the drive finger of the ejection member in upper position freeing themovement of the button, and on the other hand, in blocking the ejectionmember in the lower position when the mixing accessory is inserted inits coupling device, the drive finger of the ejection member blocked inlower position blocking the button from the side corresponding to the"continuous operation" position.

Thus, the invention uses judiciously the movable ejection memberconventionally mounted in this type of apparatus to permit, in a simplemanner, blocking the actuating button of the switch preventing it solelyfrom occupying the "continuous operation" positions in the presence ofthe mixing accessory, and to free this actuating button permitting it tooccupy its "continuous operation" or its "instantaneous operation"positions in the presence of the beating accessory.

The characteristics and advantages of the invention will become moreapparent from the description which follows, by way of non-limitingexample, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary vertical cross-sectional view of a beater-mixeraccording to the invention, with the accessory absent;

FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 are transverse cross-sectional views of a manualoperating button associated with a drive finger for the beater-mixer ofFIG. 1, when the button is in "stop" position (FIG. 2), in "continuousoperation" position (FIG. 3), and in "instantaneous operation" position(FIG. 4);

FIG. 5 is a view similar to that of FIG. 1, but with a beating accessorypresent;

FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 are transverse cross-sectional views of the operatingbutton associated with the drive finger for the beater-mixer of FIG. 5,when the button is in "stop" position (FIG. 6), in "continuousoperation" position (FIG. 7), and in "instantaneous operation" position(FIG. 8);

FIG. 9 is a view similar to that of FIG. 1, but with a mixing accessorypresent; and

FIGS. 10 and 11 are transverse cross-sectional views of the operatingbutton associated with the drive finger for the beater-mixer of FIG. 9,when the button is in "stop" position (FIG. 10) and in "instantaneousoperation" position (FIG. 11).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The hand-held beater-mixer shown in FIG. 1 comprises a housing 2 ofgenerally prismatic shape constituting a hollow portion 4 which delimitsa handle 5, and containing an electric drive motor 7 provided with ashaft 8 having an axis XX' and disposed, during normal use with at leastone beating accessory such as for example a whisk 10 as shown in FIG. 5,in the lower portion 12 of the housing 2 extending horizontally.

The shaft 8 of the drive motor 7 carries at its forward end 14 anendless screw (not shown) which coacts with two helicoidal pinions eachturning about a vertical axis YY' perpendicular to the axis XX', andwhich forms with this latter a reducer 16. These two helicoidal pinionsare situated in the forward portion 18 of the housing and are connectedrespectively with two coupling devices 20 having axes YY', of which onlyone is visible in FIG. 1, which open into the base 22 of the housing 2through two openings 24 through which can be fixed side by side, or onebehind the other, two whisks 10 of which only one is shown in FIG. 5.

As to FIG. 1, the rear end 26 of the shaft 8 of the drive motor 7carries a rotatable drive 28 disposed in a cylindrical socket 31 whichextends horizontally within the rear portion 33 of the housing 2 andwhich is open facing a coupling opening 34 provided in the rear wall 35of the housing 2 and adapted for the engagement of a mixing accessorysuch as for example a mixing foot 38 as shown in FIG. 9, which mixingfoot 38 (FIG. 9) is adapted to be secured, for example by screwing, inthe socket 31 and enclosing a shaft 39 whose forward end 41, oppositethe paddle 43 enclosing a helix, not shown, is adapted to be coupledwith the drive 28.

In a manner known per se, as shown in FIG. 1, the coupling opening 34 isclosed by a sliding closure 45 which is guided on the internal surfaceof the rear wall 35 of the housing 2 with the possibility of sliding inthe vertical direction and which is closed by a finger piece 47projecting rearwardly through the opening 34.

The beater-mixer comprises moreover a movable ejection member 51arranged vertically in the front portion 18 of the housing 2 andcomprising an upper portion 52 of vertical U shape whose end portion ofthe upper leg forms a drive finger 53, and a lower portion 54constituted by two vertical cylindrical pins 56, of which only one isvisible in FIG. 1, each coacting with the corresponding coupling device20. This ejection member 51 is urged by a spring 58 and passes from alower position, defined in the absence of the whisks (FIG. 1), to anupper position in which the pins 56 are actuated by the whisks duringtheir securement in the associated coupling device 20 (FIG. 5), andconversely from this upper position corresponding to the mounting of thewhisks to the lower position in which the ejection member frees thewhisks under the action of a manual control button 61 mountedresiliently in front of the handle 5 in the upper wall 62 of the housing2, in immediate proximity to the front wall 63 of said housing.

In the upper portion 65 of the housing 2, behind the button 61, ismounted a manual operating button 67 having a cylindrical body 69, inthis case of the rotating type with a rotation axis ZZ' substantiallyparallel to the axis XX' and transverse to the vertical displacement ofthe ejection member 51 in the direction of the arrow F (FIG. 1), andhaving a gripping finger piece 70 which extends outside the upper wall62 of the housing 2. In a manner known per se, this button 67 is adaptedto actuate an electric switch 71 which places the motor 7 into and outof service and controls its speed of rotation. To this end, the switch71 can be brought, under the action of the button 67, to occupy a "stop"position (designated "O" in FIGS. 2 to 4, 6 to 8, 10 and 11), one orseveral successive "continuous operation" positions distributed in theclockwise direction, in this case three in number by way of strictlynon-limiting example (designated V1, V2 and V3 in FIGS. 2 to 4, 6 to 8,10 and 11), thereby choosing three speed levels for the motor 7, and an"instantaneous operation" position (designated VM in FIGS. 2 to 4, 6 to8, 10 and 11) arranged in the counterclockwise position relative to the"stop" position corresponding to operations of short duration of themotor 7 obtained generally by continuously exerting pressure on thebutton 67. These different electrical switching positions of the switch71, in this case "0", V1, V2, V3 and VM, are indicated with referencenumerals marked on the upper wall 62 of the housing 2, in front of theelectric switch actuating button 67.

The beater-mixer moreover comprises mechanical safety means, designatedby the general reference numeral 72 in FIGS. 1, 5 and 9, which areadapted on the one hand to prevent bringing the switch to the"continuous operation" position, that is, to permit it to occupy onlyits "instantaneous operation" position VM, when the mixer foot 38 issecured in the socket 31 (FIG. 9), and on the other hand, to permitbringing the switch into "continuous operation" position V1, V2 or V3,or into the "instantaneous operation" position VM when the whisks 10 areeach secured in the corresponding coupling device 20 (FIG. 5).

According to the invention, these mechanical means 72 comprise a movablemember 74, in this case a metallic strip or rod which will be describedin greater detail hereinafter, which is interposed between the movableejection member 51 and the internal passage 76 of the socket 31, whosedisplacement is subject to the securement of the mixer foot 38 in thesocket 31 (FIG. 9), against a return spring 78, and which is adapted tooccupy two positions, namely:

a beating position (FIG. 5) in which it frees the displacement of theejection member 51 which passes from its lower position to its upperposition when the whisks 10 are each secured in the correspondingcoupling device 20, the drive finger 53 of the ejection member 51 inupper position coming, when the rotatable button 67 is in the "0"position as shown in FIG. 6, into free engagement with the interior of arecess 82 (FIG. 6) provided in the body 69 of the button 67, bounded bytwo internal walls 84 and 85, and opening in a cutout 87 provided in thelower external surface of the body 69 of the button 67; the button 67,FIG. 6, being not blocked, it can thus turn toward its "continuousoperation" positions V1, V2 and V3, as well as toward its "instantaneousoperation" position VM;

a mixing position (FIG. 9) in which it blocks the ejection member 51 inlower position when the mixer foot 38 is fixed in the socket 31, thedrive finger 53 of the ejection member 51 blocked in lower positionbeing, when the rotatable button 67 is in the position "0" as shown inFIG. 10, in abutment against the edge 89 of the cutout 87 of the body 69of the button 67 which is located on the side corresponding to its"continuous operation" positions; the button 67, FIG. 10, being blockedin rotation for its "continuous operation" positions by the drive finger53 of the ejection member 51 blocked in lower position, it can thus turnonly toward its "instantaneous operation" position VM.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, 6 to 8, 10 and 11, the internal walls 84 and85 of the recess 82 of the body 69 of the rotatable button 67 definetogether an angular sector which forms a predetermined angular clearancecorresponding to the movement of rotation of the button 67 from itsextreme "continuous operation" position V3 to its "instantaneousoperation" position VM.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1, 5 and 9, the strip 74 is mountedslidably, below the hollow portion 4 of the housing 2, in a horizontaldirection, and has a forward portion in the form of a disconnectableblocking member 91 of the ejection member 51, and a rear portion in theform of a locking tongue 93 engaged, by its free end forming a lug 94,within the socket 31 through a slot 96 provided in the side wall 97 ofthe socket 31.

In this example, the disconnectable blocking member 91 is in the form ofa vertical fork with three teeth 99, 100 and 101 whose free ends of twobetween them, namely the central tooth 100 and the upper tooth 101, areinterconnected by an abutment surface 103.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 5 and 9, the return spring 78 of the strip 74 is acompression spring interposed between the lower portion of the lockingtongue 93 of the strip 74 and a vertical fin 105 provided on theexternal surface of the side wall 97 of the socket 31, adjacent thebottom of this latter.

In the stop position of the beater-mixer, in the absence of anyaccessory, as shown in FIG. 1, the strip 74 occupies a rest position inwhich its forward portion with three teeth 99, 100 and 101 is in thedisconnected position relative to the ejection member 51 in the lowerposition, which ejection member is thus freed, whilst its locking tongue93 coacts by bearing with its lug 94 against the internal surface of theside wall 97 of the socket 31, under the action of the compressionspring 78.

In this stop position, the rotatable button 67 is in "0" position forwhich the drive finger 53 of the ejection member 51 in lower position bythe spring 58 is in abutment against the edge 89 of the cutout 87 of thebody of the button 67, as seen in FIG. 2. Thanks to a ramp 107 extendinginto the recess 82 of the body of the button 67, from this edge 89, theuser can turn the button 67 in the clockwise direction according to thearrow F1 of FIG. 2, toward any one of its "continuous operation"position V1, V2 or V3 for which the drive finger 53 of the ejectionmember 51 slides along the ramp 107, thereby permitting the continuousoperation of the motor, see FIG. 3. The user can also turn the button 67in the counterclockwise direction according to the arrow F2 in FIG. 2,toward its "instantaneous operation" position VM, the drive finger 53 ofthe ejection member 51 being, at the end of the path of the button 67,in bearing relationship against the other edge 108 of the cutout 87 ofthe body of the button from which extends the internal wall 84 of therecess 82, thereby permitting instantaneous operation of the motor, seeFIG. 4.

Thus, the fact of being able to actuate the motor in the absence of theaccessory, both in continuous operation and in instantaneous operation,is particularly advantageous because this permits the user tocontinuously assure himself of the good operation of the apparatusbefore its use.

Referring to FIG. 5, the strip 74 occupies its beating position whichcorresponds to its rest position of FIG. 1 in which the ejection member51 is free and thereby permits the securement of the whisks 10. Duringengagement of each of the whisks 10 in the corresponding coupling device20, FIG. 5, the free end of the whisk 10 urges the corresponding pin 56of the ejection member 51 which passes from its high position in whichan abutment surface 110 provided on the lower branch of the upperportion 52 of U shape of the ejection member 51 comes to face and is ata very reliable distance from the abutment surface 103 of the strip 74so as to prevent, in this beating position, the mounting of the mixerfoot in the socket 31.

In this beating position, the rotating button 67 being in the "0"position as shown in FIG. 6, the drive finger 53 of the ejection member51 in upper position is in free engagement within the interior of therecess 82 of the body of the button 67 which is hence free in rotation.The user can thus turn the button 67 to bring the switch 71 either, byclockwise rotation of the button (arrow F1 in FIG. 6), into any of the"continuous operation" positions V1, V2 or V3 as shown in FIG. 7,thereby permitting continuous operation of the motor, or, by acounterclockwise rotation of the button (arrow F2 in FIG. 6), into the"instantaneous operation" position VM in which the internal wall 84 ofthe recess 82 of the body of the button 67 is in abutment against thedrive finger 53 of the ejection member 51 as shown in FIG. 8, therebypermitting instantaneous operation of the motor.

From the beating position of FIG. 5, the whisks 10 can be freed by theejection member 51 under the action of the manual control button 61,said ejection member 51 returning to its lower position as shown in FIG.1.

With reference to FIG. 9, the strip 74 occupies its mixing position towhich it is brought by sliding in the direction of the arrow G of FIG.1, under the influence of the emplacement by screwing of the mixer foot38, after opening the closure 45, thereby giving rise to thelongitudinal displacement of the lug 94 of the locking tongue 93 withinthe socket 31, against the compression spring 78; at the end of screwingof the mixer foot 38, the shaft 39 of this latter is coupled with thedrive 28. In this mixing position, FIG. 9, the upper portion of each pin56 of the ejection member 51 is in lowered position is in engagement, bymeans of its engagement passage, with the lower tooth 99 of the forwardportion of the strip 74; the ejection member 51 being blocked in lowerposition, the whisks can therefore not be secured in their respectivecoupling devices 20.

In this mixing position, the rotatable button 67 being in the "0"position as shown in FIG. 10, the drive finger 53 of the ejection member51 blocked in lower position is in abutment against the edge 89 of thecutout 87 of the body of the button 67, thereby preventing the rotationof the button 67 toward its "continuous operation" positions V1, V2 orV3, and hence preventing the continuous operation of the motor, butpermitting the rotation in the counterclockwise direction (arrow F2 inFIG. 10) of said button 67 toward its "instantaneous operation" positionVM in which the drive finger 53, at the end of movement of the button67, bears against the edge 108 of the cutout 87 of the body of thebutton 67, thereby permitting instantaneous operation of the motor, seeFIG. 11.

From the mixing position of FIG. 9, the mixing foot 38 can be simplywithdrawn by unscrewing, the strip 74 then returning, under the actionof the compression spring 78, to its rest position as shown in FIG. 1.

We claim:
 1. In a hand-held electric beater-mixer adapted to driveselectively at least one of a beating accessory and a mixing accessory,the beater-mixer comprising:a housing of generally prismatic shapehaving a base, an upper wall, a rear wall, a hollow portion delimiting ahandle, and enclosing an electric motor provided with a shaft; tworotatable coupling devices operatively connected to the shaft of themotor, a first opening in the base for fixing the beating accessory to afirst coupling device, a second opening for fixing the mixing accessoryto the second coupling device; an operating button for actuating aswitch which controls the electric motor, said button having a bodymounted in an upper portion of the housing in a region overhanging thebeating accessory, the switch adapted to occupy a stop position, atleast one continuous operation position, and an instantaneous operationposition; an ejection member co-acting with the first coupling deviceand vertically displaceable between a low position in the absence of thebeating accessory to a high position when the beating accessory isengaged in the first coupling device; and mechanical means forpreventing actuation of the switch into the continuous operationposition or into the instantaneous operation position when the beatingaccessory is inserted in the first coupling device; the improvementwherein the second opening is provided in the rear wall, the ejectionmember comprises in its upper portion a drive finger, and the mechanicalmeans comprise a movable member interposed between the ejection memberand the second coupling device, said movable member having adisplacement which is subordinated to emplacement of the mixingaccessory in the second coupling device, against resilient return means,and being adapted to occupy a beating position wherein the ejectionmember is free to pass from its low position to its high position withthe drive finger freeing actuation of the button, and a mixing positionwherein the ejection member is blocked in the low position with thedrive finger blocking actuation of the button from a side correspondingto the continuous operation position.
 2. Beater-mixer according to claim1, wherein the body of the button has a recess bordered by two internalwalls, said recess having a cutout for engaging the drive finger, saidfinger coming into free engagement within the recess when the beatingaccessory is inserted in the first coupling device, and being inabutment against an edge of the cutout located on the side correspondingto the continuous operation position when the mixing accessory isinserted into the second coupling device.
 3. Beater-mixer according toclaim 2, wherein the button is rotatably mounted about an axissubstantially parallel to a longitudinal axis of the shaft of the motorand transverse to the vertical displacement of the ejection member, andthe internal walls bordering the recess define together a circularsector forming an annual clearance corresponding to the movement ofrotation of the button serving to bring the switch from its extremecontinuous operation position to its instantaneous operation position.4. Beater-mixer according to claim 1, wherein the second coupling devicecomprises a rotatable drive carried by a rear end of the shaft of themotor and disposed in a cylindrical socket facing the second opening,the mixing accessory comprising a shaft having a first end for couplingengagement with said drive during its engagement in the socket, and themoveable member being a sliding strip arranged horizontally below saidhollow portion and having a forward portion in the form of adisconnectable blocking member, which in the absence of the mixingaccessory, is in a disconnected condition relative to the ejectionmember so as to free said ejection member, and when the first end iscoupled with said drive, the blocking member is in engagement againstsaid resilient return means, with the ejection member being in the lowposition, the moveable member having a rear portion in the form of alocking tongue engaged by its free end within the socket through a slotprovided in a side wall of the socket, said tongue co-acting in bearingrelationship with an internal surface of the side wall of the socket inthe absence of the mixing accessory, and being displaced, against saidresilient return means, by the mixing accessory when the first end iscoupled with said drive.
 5. Beater-mixer according to claim 4, whereinthe ejection member has a lower portion and an upper portion, the lowerportion having a pin, the upper portion having at its base a firstabutment surface, and the disconnectable blocking member is in the formof a vertical fork having an upper tooth, a central tooth, and a lowertooth, each of the central tooth and the upper tooth having a free endconnected by a second abutment surface adapted to come into facingrelationship with said first abutment surface when the beating accessoryis inserted in the first coupling device, said pin having a passage forengagement with the lower tooth when the first end of the shaft iscoupled with the drive.
 6. Beater-mixer according to claim 4, whereinthe resilient return means comprise a compression spring interposedbetween a lower portion of the locking tongue and a vertical finprovided on the external surface of the side wall of the socket.